


How To Tell If A Girl Likes You: 10 Easy Steps (Guaranteed To Work 100%!!!)

by decotex



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, WandaVision (TV)
Genre: Avengers TM, Domestic Fluff, F/M, Fluff and Angst, I had to do it to em, Slice of Life, The Good Place (TV) References, The Nanny References, picks up where that scene from E8 leaves off
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-28
Updated: 2021-02-28
Packaged: 2021-03-12 02:55:44
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,978
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29753013
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/decotex/pseuds/decotex
Summary: Vision is quite taken with the girl from Sokovia. He looks for advice in all the best/worst places.Feat. feelings, Tony Stark, and a lot of sitcoms.
Relationships: Tony Stark & Vision, Wanda Maximoff/Vision
Comments: 9
Kudos: 166





	How To Tell If A Girl Likes You: 10 Easy Steps (Guaranteed To Work 100%!!!)

"Well, I'm kinda tired." 

Vision stared at Wanda. They sat on the bed together. Her, with her legs pulled up, comfortable but guarded. Him, stiff as a board. 

An episode of _Malcom In The Middle_ played in the background. 

"Oh, was that - are you trying to tell me to go? I'm sorry. I . . . just thought you could use some company. But of course, you have to sleep."

"I liked the company. It was nice. But, yeah. I should . . . " She made vague gestures at the bed. 

"Of course. Of course! I'll just-" He stepped off of the bed and smiled politely, failing to mask any of his awkwardness but succeeding, if so accidentally, to convey his genuine concern. 

"Thank you," he said, gathering his composure. "For teaching me about sitcoms. I will have to do further research."

"You should. I think you'd like them," she said, softly. A little distracted. Her eyes drifted towards the screen. 

_She's strong,_ Vision thought. From the words they'd exchanged about her brother, he could tell. She'd be okay, eventually. 

"Well then," he said, quietly. "Goodnight, Wanda. I'll be leaving, then."

He turned and walked towards the door. 

"You can come back."

He stopped. 

They made awkward eye contact. 

"Tomorrow," she said, looking away and pushing hair out of her face. "If you wanted. You could come back."

There was a pause. 

"Okay."

\---

"What are you doing?" asked Tony Stark, throwing his suit jacket clear across the room. It missed Vision's head by inches. Vision didn't even flinch. 

"Thinking," said Vision, looking extremely contemplative. The expression was kind of ridiculous, Tony thought, on Vision's red face with glowing lights. If he'd known Vision would have such a sexy, pensive personality _,_ well, he might have made some alternate design decisions. 

_Weird._

"And how does that work, exactly?"

"I've no idea, Mr. Stark."

"I mean, I built you. And I'm not really sure either. They didn't have a class on _magic rocks_ at MIT." Tony paused. _"But they will soon."_

Vision stared into the tastefully adorned Avengers TM fireplace, clearly already miles away from this conversation. 

Tony had long ago accepted that he needed attention at all times, and had become extremely skilled at getting it, if only by being annoying enough that the attention he received was not the positive kind. 

He was okay with this. 

Vision jumped a little when Tony sat down, exaggeratedly hard, on the couch next to him. 

"What's on your mind, Mr. The Vision?" Tony asked, putting both legs up on the coffee table and crushing a fortune cookie someone had left there in the process. 

"Well," began Vision. "I'm just. Thinking."

"Yeah, you keep saying that."

Tony leaned back and stared. Vision's features were remarkably human, for . . . for what he was. Which was. Something. 

"What even are you?"

"I couldn't begin to answer that question."

"Could you try?"

"No, I couldn't do that either," said Vision, sounding like a sulky teenager. 

"Do you know how frustrating it is that my own computer is being . . . petulant at me? Nevermind, I'm used to it."

"Tony, please. I'm . . . I'm having thoughts. I'm _thinking_. About . . ."

"About what?"

Vision put his head in his hands. 

"Nevermind. Have a good night."

Tony picked a piece of fortune cookie off of the table and started eating it. 

"You're weird," he said, conversationally. 

Vision shot him a tired look. _"I know."_

\---

The next day, Vision brought cookies. 

"Did you make these?" Wanda asked. She wore a blue sweater today. The sleeves stretched over her hands, forming little mittens with which she held the plate of cookies. 

She smiled at him, and _oh wow_. Vision looked away for reasons that were unclear to him.

"No, I didn't. I'm afraid I'm not . . . especially useful in the kitchen. Except as an appliance, possibly."

Wanda shot him that sad, distracted smile. 

It made him feel things in the place where his heart would be. 

Weird, since he didn't have one. 

He made a mental note to get that checked out. Chest pain could be a symptom of an electrical malfunction. 

They watched _The Nanny_ that night. It was fine. 

"Are they really not aware of their feelings for each other? Surely, even for a sitcom, that seems a little far-fetched. They're being quite obvious about it."

"They figure it out. Eventually. I mean, not to spoil the ending for you."

"No, no, it's quite alright. I'm more interested in how they get there."

\---

Midnight found Vision in the tastefully-decorated Avengers TM living room, reading an article titled _"How To Tell If A Girl Likes You: 10 Easy Steps (Guaranteed To Work 100%!!!)"_

The steps, in his opinion, were _not_ , in fact, as easy as the title of the article claimed.

How was he supposed to "check her composition notebook and binders to see if she doodles his name on her homework"? He didn't even know if she _had_ those things. It didn't seem likely. 

He made it all the way to Step 7 and then he got sad, because the step was "Ask Her Friends If She's Into You" and. Well. 

\---

"So they're all dead?"

"Well," said Wanda, thinking. "Yes. But it's not . . . sad."

_"It's not??"_

"No, because, their lives were, unhappy, sort of. So they go to the _good place_ -"

 _"The bad place,"_ Vision corrected. "That's the twist."

"Yes. But it's not _too_ bad, because they have each other. So it can never really be the bad place. Get it?"

"Ah, yes. One could say that the true hell is loneliness."

"Yeah, Vis. One _could_ say that. One generally _doesn't_ though."

"Why not? It's true."

Wanda stared at the ceiling. "Those type of thoughts, while _true_ , tend to . . . bum people out."

"Sorry. I think I'm a . . . a bit of a _weirdo_ . _"_

She shrugged.

"That's okay. I'm weird too."

Their hands brushed. 

" . . . One could also say," said Vision, softly, as if he wasn't sure he was allowed. "That any place can be the good place, if you're with the right person."

"Mmmm."

\---

"Tony, I need your help."

"Don't you just," mumbled Tony, as Vision paced back and forth on the tasteful Avengers TM carpet. 

"I'm having . . . feelings."

"Yeah? What kind?"

"The, err."

"Oh, the . . .?" Tony pointed to his crotch. 

"No! I'm having _human feelings!"_

"Probably don't call them that." 

"But I am! Tony, I . . . you're good with women. How do I tell if, if, so. So if I like someone. And I want to . . . be with them. I want to be with them more than is appropriate for platonic friends. If I like someone, what do I _do?"_

Tony stared. 

" . . . You mean . . . the sister?"

"She has a _name."_

"Oh _man_. Oh geez. You know she's . . . going through some stuff right now? And possibly forever."

"Yes, I _know_ . I've been trying to keep her company. And I find I rather enjoy it. I'm . . . _drawn_ to her."

"Wow."

Tony was silent for a moment. 

"Don't take this the wrong way, but I didn't know you were capable of experiencing attraction. Congrats. The friend in me is trying to support you, but the scientist in me really wants to run some tests."

"Oh, you're no help at all."

"Hey, I'm sorry. Honestly I'm not so good with the feelings stuff myself."

"Well that's just _great."_

"Do you want to check the internet?"

"I am the internet," said Vision, miserably. 

"Oh. How convenient."

"Also I already did. And the advice it offered left a lot to be desired."

"Well," said Tony, taking a long sip of cognac. "That's the internet for you."

\---

The park was nice. 

It was cold out, but Wanda didn't seem to notice. Her northern blood, Vision noted, as he walked next to her. 

"Your face," she said. "Sorry, that's a little blunt. I only mean, I've never seen it like this before."

"Yes, it's a necessary illusion. _Something_ about my real appearance _catches people off guard."_

Wanda giggled. 

Their fingertips brushed. 

She had small hands. Vision knew this because he stared at them a lot, for some reason.

"Do you mind when people look at you that way?" Wanda asked. "Like, does it bother you?"

"What way?"  
  
"Like you're, you know. Different."

"Not really. I suppose I don't care much what strangers think of me. But I also don't like drawing unnecessary attention to myself, so maybe that's a form of caring."

Wanda nodded thoughtfully. 

The wind was strong that day. Dry leaves tumbled across the path in front of them and dunked lazily into the lake. 

"I've never cared so much either. I was so busy trying to survive, or change the world, or whatever it was that I was doing. I don't even know anymore. But when people called me a freak, it was like, I had bigger things on my mind, you know?"

Vision was very quiet for a moment. 

"People called you that?" he asked, quietly.

"Well . . . yeah. Sometimes."

He reached over and squeezed her hand, and then immediately regretted it, because, was it okay to hold her hand? All that time he'd spent thinking of taking her hand in his, and he'd just impulsively _done it?_

But then she squeezed back, so he figured it was probably fine.

\---

"Do you have a composition notebook?"

"No. What's that?"

"I have no idea. I was hoping you would enlighten me."

"Well . . . let's look it up."

They spent the rest of the evening crouched over a computer on the floor, reading articles about American primary school, of which neither had any context.

\---

Clint Barton stopped in early the next morning. 

Vision, who didn't need to sleep, ran into him in the kitchen. 

"Oh, Barton! Good to see you."

"Good to see you too. You're looking . . ." He eyed Vision's pullover sweater and jeans. "Very _dad-like."_

"Yes, the suit is excellent for dramatic confrontations but a little _much_ for daily life."

"Sure, yeah. Been there." Barton sat down and set his bag on the table. "Hey, have you seen that girl around? The one from Sokovia? Red flashy lights?"

Vision stared into the cup of coffee he was making. 

"Yes, I've seen her around. Do you have business with her?"

"Ah, no." Barton leaned on the counter top, looking very much like he did. "We're working on some stuff at the lab," he continued, vaguely.

" . . . Yes?" Vision prompted.

"Mmmm." He stared at the ceiling. "We're just wondering what kind of person she is. You know, if she's a good fit for the team. She hasn't caused any trouble, has she?"

"No, not at all."

"Well, that's good at least. Tell me if she does."

"Mr. Barton, I think your suspicions are misplaced. I believe Wanda Maximoff has no ill-intentions, and I doubt that she ever did. Despite her powers, or maybe because of them, it seems to me that she cares very little for the _superhero gambit_ , as it were, and has thoughts and desires very normal for a woman her age. She desires a normal life. She just wants to be happy. _"_

Vision hadn't meant to say that much, but it had all sort of happened. The last part made him sad. 

" . . . Uh-huh," said Barton, giving him a weird look. "You two close?"

"I wouldn't say that."

\---

The next night they stayed up quite late watching _Full House_ , and then, when Vision went to leave, Wanda took his hand. 

"You don't _have_ to go," she said. 

\---

Wanda looked quite beautiful in the morning sunlight, Vision thought. She had freckles. 

Cute. 

\---

"You don't have to do that, you know" said Wanda one day, as they were walking along the lake, holding hands. 

"Do what? What am I doing?"

"Oh, you know," said Wanda. "Your mask."

Vision took a moment, considering. Ducks splashed in the water, quacking at each other. 

"Wanda," he began, with some worry. "If I don't present the illusion of looking normal, I'm afraid my natural complexion will draw negative attention."

"Yes, but it's the real you."

"Well, yes."

She smiled at him and swung their joined hands, happy. She was different, these days. Like a weight had been lifted.

"I like the real you."

Vision smiled at the ground, noting every stray leaf in his path, every dirty pebble, and loving all of them. 

"You have to admit, my _real self_ is quite _red_ , though. Shockingly so."

Wanda squeezed his hand, sending little red sparks that danced up his coat sleeve and twinkled in the air in front of him. 

"I like red."

\---

"Are you sure this is a good idea?"

Vision looked at Tony from across the tasteful Avengers TM coffee table. 

"Excuse me?" asked Vision. 

"I mean, this thing you've got going on with the . . . spicy girl."

"I don't see how that's any of your business. After all, I'm not your _computer_ anymore."

Tony made a face, like he knew the next thing he said wasn't going to go over well (although that had never stopped him before).

"Sooooo, she, like, hates my guts? I mean, that was her whole M.O. for her, and I say this with the empathy, for her _terrorism_ years. Years. _Plural._ She's the most powerful sorceress - because okay, I guess we have those now - that I've ever met, personally. She levels _cities_ with her _mind._ She's just found out everything she knew was a lie - _been there -_ and lost her brother, and now she's in a new country with no friends except a . . . gun with feelings."

"Mr. Stark, I don't need to explain to you why that's both offensive and inaccurate. And I know you've had issues with Wanda in the past, but you can hardly blame her. Are we really going to go down the 'who among us used to be a terrorist' path, because let's just say you aren't without fault in that regard either."

"Maaan," said Tony, putting his head in his hands. "You used to be my _friend."_

Vision sat back, all the sternness draining out of his expression. 

"Tony," he said, gently. "You created me based on JARVIS. When I came into being, JARVIS was all that I was - that and the mind stone. But every moment that I'm alive, I'm _evolving_. Much faster than humans can. I am no longer JARVIS, and I am no longer a weapon. I'm . . . something else entirely."

Tony looked up at him, from over his hands.

"And what is that, exactly?" he mumbled. He was tired. 

"Well," said Vision. "I'd like to think that I can be your friend again, one day."

Tony sighed and leaned back in his chair, staring up at the ceiling. 

"One day."

\---

Wanda was quiet, but she was not shy. 

Vision considered this as they lay in bed, television on in front of them. Wanda lay against his side, her bare feet tucked under his. She was absentmindedly stroking his hand. 

Wanda was bold. She was confident. She was confident in her _differentness_. She had lived on the border of normality and strangeness for a long time, and she walked the line without fear. 

It was the confidence of someone who has gone through hell and knows, if she had to, she could do it again. 

Vision admired that in her. The quiet confidence. 

He admired a lot of things about her. 

"Wanda, can I ask you something?"

She turned, with some effort, and then pulled away so she could look at him. 

"Yeah?"

He hesitated. "I don't want to _bum you out."_

"It's okay. What is it?"

"Does it . . . bother you that I was made by Tony Stark? I have nothing but the sincerest respect for what you went through, and I only wish to, to make sure you know that I am not _his._ "

"Oh Vis," she said, tilted her head to the side. "I know that. Come here."

She pulled him into a hug. He put his arm around her, squeezing. She was so tiny. 

"Don't worry about that stuff. I know."

"We could go somewhere else, if you wanted. If you wanted to live somewhere else - that is, if you wanted me with you, we could leave. If that would make you happier."

She pulled away, smiling at him, a little sadly. 

"I want to stay here right now. I'm doing . . . things that are important to me. I feel like I'm doing the right thing. I never stopped wanting to change the world, you know. I'm just doing it a little differently this time."

Vision put his hand around her cheek, tenderly. 

"Yes, that's what I like about you. You're so _driven,_ so, so, _resilient._ I aspire to know myself that well one day. I'm just, I was-"

"Vis," she said, looking him in the eye. "It's okay. They used me as a weapon too. But that doesn't make us guns."

He felt a hand squeeze his. 

"How did you know I was thinking that?" he asked, softly. 

She tapped his head, right above the Mind Stone. 

"Because you were thinking it very loudly."

\---

Maybe it was because neither of them had anywhere else to go. Maybe that's why this was happening. 

All Vision knew was that every day, when he woke up (because he chose to sleep, for the sake of an authentic experience), every day he woke up excited, because that meant she'd wake up soon too, and they could spend the day together. And every night, as he held her in her sleep, he was excited too, because that meant that tomorrow was a whole new day of being with her. 

Every day was an adventure, and every day, Vision was excited to be living it.

\---

"You two are getting awfully cozy."

Vision glared at Tony. They sat in the tastefully decorated Avengers TM sitting room. Tony was pretending to read a magazine. 

"Tony, what am I?"

"I couldn't say."

"I find that unlikely, as you seem to have a lot to say about everything else."

Tony put the magazine down, knocking several fortune cookies off the coffee table (seriously, who kept getting these?)

"I just don't get it. You and Wanda. How does it work? Like, _literally,_ if you're willing to share. I'm not mad, I'm just curious."

"You fear what you do not understand."

"Well . . . yeah. That's my whole deal."

Vision paused for a moment. 

"Tony Stark. Look at me and tell me, what do you see?"

"I see a, a strong, attractive man, with a strong, attractive jawline. He's brave. He's smart. He's _worthy._ "

Tony paused. 

"That's what I see when I look in your eyes. And you know why? Because they're _reflective,_ like _little mirrors._ "

"You _ass._ "

"It's a good ass. Don't wear it out."

"Tony Stark, I will tell you what you see. You look at me and you see an impossibly complicated sentient AI. You see a red computer that wears clothes. You see your old operating system. You see a _gun with feelings._ You don't even know _what I am_. No one does! Not even myself!"

He paused for a moment, breathing in. 

"But _she does._ And it's not even difficult for her. She just . . . sees right through me."

There was silence. 

"Well. . ." said Tony, tentatively. "Then if she likes what she sees, you're good to go, right?"

\---

The next morning, Tony and Wanda ran into each other in the kitchen. Wanda was holding two cups of tea. Tony had half a bagel in his mouth. 

They stared at each other in silence, until Tony spoke. 

"Are you dating my toaster?" 

Wanda glared at him. The bagel flew across the room, slammed against a wall, and exploded. 

\---

They frequented a little cafe. Everyone has a favorite little cafe. This was theirs. 

The little cafe was across the street from a park. Winter was slowly fading into spring, so sometimes they'd sit outside.

This was one of those days. 

"I crushed a tank today," said Wanda, conversationally, as steam from her tea wafted in front of face.

"On purpose?" Vision asked. 

She gave him a look. "Yes, _on purpose."_

"Did it offend you in some way?"

"No. It was a training exercise." 

"A very expensive training exercise, it seems."

"Yes. I don't know where this money is coming from, but I hope some of it ends up with us. By the way, do you know if we get paid?"

"For what, for _Avenging?_ No, I've never thought about it, actually. I don't even know if I'm legally an American citizen. I don't know if I'm legally _alive."_

"I don't _think_ I'm a citizen. Do you think someone's taken care of that for me? Just, slid it in? Do you think I have to apply? I don't want to bother with that. The process sounds exhausting."

"Yes, it does," agreed Vision. "Well I'm sure Stark could get us a passport. You know, a 'legal' one."

"Oh, very legal. Through all the proper channels, I'm sure."

"Naturally."

People walked by, holding shopping bags. The cafe was in a nice area of town, with a few high-end designer stores. They watched as a young woman loaded several shopping bags and new purses into a taxi. 

"Hey," said Wanda, staring off into the distance. "About what you said before. About living somewhere else."

"You'd like to leave?"

"No. I mean, not right now. My place, right now, is here. But one day, when this is all over, I'd like to settle down. You know. A house. Kids, maybe. Family dinner on Sundays. Somewhere far, far away from all this. I'd like to do the whole, _normal_ thing."

Vision tried to keep the desperation from his voice.

"That sounds nice."

\---

"So, I've figured out what you are," announced Tony, leaning against the tastefully painted Avengers TM wallpaper. 

Vision gave him a look.

"Oh, have you? Then please, I'm all ears."

Tony took a deep breath and smiled. 

"You're in love."

There was a brief silence. 

"Oh," Vision said softly. And then; "How do I . . . know? If I am."

"Well," said Tony. "Sometimes, you don't. But you . . . you figure it out. Eventually."

"Hmm."

\---

"Wanda?"

"Yes?"

They were lying in the grass, in a field way out in Canada. They'd gone there to watch a meteor shower, only it had been cloudy so they couldn't see much, plus it had started to rain on their way there so they'd stopped at a convenience store to buy jackets, only the store hadn't had jackets so they'd settled for two XL beach towels with bold animal prints (tigers for Vision, pandas for Wanda), in which they were currently wrapped up in, on the grass, in the field, staring up at the clouds and the occasional bright flashes behind them. 

" . . . Wanda?"

 _"Yes?"_

He looked at her. 

She was partially wrapped up in her beach towel. The grass was wet, but she didn't seem to mind. She clutched her hands under her head, cheek resting on a fist, legs curled up against him. 

Always so protective of herself. A little distrustful, a little scared. All of her emotions displayed in her body language, on her face. Always so easy to read, even to him. 

You have to be very strong to be that vulnerable. 

"Vis."

They locked eyes. 

_She is so pretty,_ thought Vision, a little dumbly. But sometimes those are the only thoughts you have. The dumb ones. 

The smart thoughts made him a hero. The dumb thoughts made him human. 

"Vis, _what?"_

"I . . . um, I. Wanda, I have something that I'd like to, well . . ."

He trailed off. 

She smiled at him. He felt her take his hand and squeeze it.

And instantly, he was sure. 

"I love you."

A silvery meteor flashed through a part in the clouds. 

She put one hand around his shoulders and leaned in, breathing into his neck. He held her close. He felt everything. The entire world consisted of this little patch of grass and the sky above it. 

He liked this world, he decided. 

**Author's Note:**

> who else was completely KO'd by episode 8 of wandavision
> 
> : , I
> 
> find me on [tumblr](http://decotext.tumblr.com/) or [twitter](https://twitter.com/robokarla)


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